Drop-in celebrates 10 years of 'new friendships'

The Alnwick Garden drop-in centre has had 50,000 visits from local people

A drop-in centre is celebrating 10 years of supporting people struggling with loneliness.

The Alnwick Garden drop-in in Northumberland was established in 2015, and since then has had 50,000 visits from local people.

Regular visitors to the hub, couple Jean and Stephen Bunning, praised it for helping them when they were "really struggling" after the pandemic.

Mrs Bunning said her husband had suffered two strokes during the Covid-19 lockdown and they managed to get the support they needed at the drop-in centre.

She said: "At home there was just the two of us. Someone said why don't you go to the drop-in centre, it's free, for one thing, and I think helps a lot of people."

On their first visit the pair were greeted by volunteer Sue Simpson and started visiting the centre regularly.

'New friendships'

Ms Simpson has been involved in the project since it was created and said the staff believed there was "a life to be lived at any age".

"We are here for people at the best of times and the most difficult of times," she said.

"To anyone who would like to join us, come along and give it a try - there are friendly faces waiting to greet you."

The Duchess of Northumberland founded the project to form "a safe space for people to come together and find new friendships".

She said: "Loneliness can happen to all of us, at any time in our lives.

"It can have a serious impact on our emotional and physical well-being, and it's something we at The Alnwick Garden are committed to tackling."

The Alnwick Garden was opened in 2001 and opened the drop-in centre with the support of the Stuart Halbert Foundation.